A plane from Seattle had to return because somebody left a human heart on board!

Seattle, Dec 17: This is a story which is bizarre, humane and also an example of ignorance and all combined, it is one of the most unique ones ever. The good part of the story is that it ended well, hence concluding all's well.

It so happened that passengers on a Dallas-bound Southwest Airlines flight from Seattle saw on Sunday, December 16, their plane making a U-turn to return to Seattle after a human heart, meant for a transplant, was found left on board, Mashable reported. Well, I didn't know that even human hearts can be left back just like that!

The plane had reached the border of the states of Idaho and Wyoming when the authorities made the decision to return to Seattle, Mashable cited a report in the Seattle Times.

Southwest Airlines, too, responded to the incident. In an email state to Mashable, it said: "During Flight #3606 with scheduled service from Seattle to Dallas this past Sunday evening, we learned of a life-critical cargo shipment onboard the aircraft that was intended to stay in Seattle for delivery to a local hospital. Therefore, we made the decision to return to Seattle to ensure the shipment was delivered to its destination within the window of time allotted by our cargo customer."

Heart transplants are things that need to be done immediately. In fact, a heart can be stored for just between four and six hours before it can be used for a transplant.

According to the airliner, the heart first entered the plane in Sacramento. It was not clear though how long the plane flew before returning to Seattle or if the organ was meant to be used for a specific patient. The Seattle Times contacted a number of hospitals to make an inquiry about the incident but none responded saying they were waiting for the organ, Mashable added.

Truly unique.

There were also people on the flight who considered it to be a case of "gross negligence".